If you are harmed by a medical practitioner from surgical errors to a misdiagnosis, you need to have a good medical malpractice lawyer on your side. However, it is important that you hire the right lawyer or attorney for traumatic brain injuries to take on your case. There are certain complexities when it comes to this type of case that only good malpractice lawyers will be able to navigate.

Where You Should Start

Medical malpractice is a specialized section of law because of the overlapping legal and medical issues. This specialization has resulted in two distinct types of malpractice lawyers, and they are the lawyers who represent injured patients and lawyer who represent medical practitioners. If you have suffered from medical malpractice, you need to hire a plaintiff’s lawyer.

The best place to start when looking for a lawyer is your close friends and family. While they may not have dealt with a malpractice lawyer, someone will have dealt with a good lawyer. The lawyer that they recommend may be able to put you in touch with a good malpractice firm.

If you do not have any friends or family who can offer recommendations, there are some websites that can tell you about lawyers in your area. These websites allow you to narrow down the field of expertise of the lawyers when you search, so you only get a listing of the ones you need.

Making A Short List

Once you have some recommendations or a list of local lawyers you need to start creating a short list. The short list should consist of only a handful of solid candidates that you will contact for further information. The first step to narrowing down the list is to look at the information about the lawyer or firm online. If this information is relevant to you and offers you some sense of comfort, they should remain on the list.

What you also need to check is the lawyer is part of a trial lawyers association. The associations may vary depending on where you are but one to look for is the American Association of Trial Lawyers. However, you should ensure that the lawyer is held in high regard by the association and is not simply paying dues to be a part.

Online reviews are a good way to determine which lawyers should be on your short list. Of course, you need to be careful with these reviews as many former customers may leave a bad review if their case did not turn out as they wanted it to. Consider how similar the case in the review is to your own and then consider what is being said.

Contacting the state bar or going onto their website will help you determine if the lawyer is in good standing. The bar association may also have recommendations for you.

Contact The Short List

Once your short list is down to a few potential lawyers, you need to get into contact with them. Contacting the lawyer is a good way to determine if you feel comfortable with them and to ask certain pertinent questions. These questions will help you choose the right lawyer for your situation.

The methods of contact that the lawyer offers are a good gauge for how comfortable you will be. If the lawyer insists that you have an appointment to find out the information you need, they may not be the right choice. Most lawyers have an email address or phone number that you can use. More lawyers are also looking into an online chat where you can ask questions about their services.

The first question to ask is what percentage of their overall caseload is medical malpractice. The more cases they see, the better as they will have a firmer understanding of what needs to be done.

You should also ask about how many of their cases go to trial compared to the cases that are settled outside of court. If the lawyer has a reputation for settling out of court the insurance company or medical practitioner may know about this. This reputation can affect how the negotiations are conducted.

Ask about the fee agreement and payment of case costs when talking to a lawyer. You should be able to hire a lawyer on a contingency fee basis where they are paid a percentage of the settlement or judgment.

Think about any special needs you might have such as needing a lawyer who speaks another language. Having these needs met can help greatly during the case.

You should also ask about booking an appointment if you feel it is important that you meet the lawyer as soon as possible. However, you should not discard a lawyer if they are not able to fit you in on short notice. Good medical malpractice lawyers are usually fairly busy, so they may not be able to spend time with each potential customer.